About 90 Palestinian prisoners were released early on Monday in exchange for three Israeli hostages handed over by Hamas to Israel on Sunday, as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal aimed at ending 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas.
The prisoners, most of whom were freed from Ofer prison in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, included 69 women and 21 teenage boys from the West Bank and Jerusalem.
It followed the release of three Israeli women held hostage by Hamas in tunnels beneath Gaza, ending a protracted ordeal that began with their violent abduction by Hamas on October 7th, 2023. The Israeli hostages released were joint British national Emily Damari, (28), Romi Gonen (24) and Doron Steinbrecher (31).
The women have been reunited with their mothers after being handed over by International Committee for the Red Cross. The three are in a “stable condition” and will be monitored for a few days, according to a news conference at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv.
Israel releases 90 Palestinian prisoners as Gaza ceasefire enters second day
Thousands gather in Tel Aviv to celebrate as release of Israeli hostages begins following ceasefire
Three Israeli women hostages arrive home as ceasefire begins between Israel and Hamas
Hamas remains in control of Gaza even as ceasefire takes effect
The Palestinian detainees were welcomed by thousands of people celebrating. Mothers, fathers, siblings and friends had waited for hours in the cold to embrace their loved ones as part of the agreement.
Among those released was Shatha Jarabaa (24) who was arrested over a social media post criticising the “brutality” of Israel’s campaign in Gaza. “I’m very happy! Thank God I’m outside. They treated me very bad in prison. It was horrible,” she said.
She was greeted by her father, Nawaf Jarabaa (63), who said earlier: “I’m happy, but not too happy ... My daughter was arrested simply for expressing her ideas ... The thing that bothers me the most is that people think that the Israelis have only behaved this way towards us since October 7th, but the truth is that it has always been like this.”
His anticipation was also tempered by the fact that two other children were not included in the deal.
Another prisoner released was Ahmad Khsha (18) who was arrested in January 2024 in Jenin. “They arrested me because my brother died during a shoot-out in Jenin. After he died, they arrested me. They raided our cells on Saturday before releasing us and threw tear gas at us. They tortured us in the cell, every day. They also tortured and mistreated the women.”
Osama Shadeh, who was waiting to be reunited with his 17-year-old daughter Aseel, said: “It’s hard to describe the emotion we’re feeling at this moment.
“My daughter was arrested on November 7th, 2024 when she was protesting against the killing of Palestinian children in Gaza. She was waving a Palestinian flag. Israeli soldiers shot her in the foot and handcuffed her. They accused her of trying to stab the soldiers. The fact that she is being released now means that Israel knew that my daughter had done nothing wrong. Yet they kept a minor in jail for over a year.”
Khawlaha Mahfouz (53), whose daughter Ayat (33) from Hebron, was arrested in June 2024 for an attempted stabbing attack also expressed mixed feelings. “I’m happy, [but] at the same time, my heart is sad and I don’t feel ready to celebrate with all that is happening in Gaza.”
A “double feeling” is how the most prominent detainee freed, Khalida Jarrar (62), described it. Jarrar is a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a secular leftist faction that was involved in attacks against Israel in the 1970s but later scaled back militant activities.
Since her arrest in late 2023, she was held under indefinitely renewable administrative detention – a widely criticised practice that Israel uses against Palestinians. “There’s this double feeling we’re living in. On the one hand, this feeling of freedom, that we thank everyone for, and on the other hand, this pain, of losing so many Palestinian martyrs,” she told the Associated Press.
In Al Fawakeh square in Ramallah, hundreds of people chanted: “The people want the Al-Qassam Brigades,” referring to Hamas’s armed wing in Gaza. In the Palestinian Territories, the release of prisoners and the ceasefire was perceived as a victory for Hamas over Israel.
In East Jerusalem, the homes of at least four prisoners were reportedly raided by Israeli security forces who seized flags and symbols associated with Palestine with soldiers explicitly warning relatives against speaking to the media. The Israel Prison Service said on Friday that it would take measures to prevent any “public displays of joy” by families of Palestinian prisoners released in the deal.
The release of the prisoners follows the freeing of three women held hostage by Hamas. In one video, Ms Damari, who lost two fingers when she was shot the day she was abducted, smiled and hugged her mother as she held up a bandaged hand.
The first phase of the truce took effect following a three-hour delay during which Israeli warplanes and artillery pounded the Gaza Strip on Sunday morning.
The last-minute blitz killed 13 people, Palestinian health authorities said. Israel claimed it had struck terrorists although Al Jazeera reported that at least two missiles hit a family travelling on a donkey cart as they tried to return home. The attack killed Ahmed al-Qidra and two of his seven children, the broadcaster reported.
Minutes after the truce began, the United Nations said the first trucks carrying desperately needed humanitarian aid had entered the Palestinian territory.
An Egyptian source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said “260 trucks of aid and 16 of fuel” had moved into the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza and the Nitzana crossing between Egypt and Israel before entering Gaza.
Thousands of displaced Palestinians also set off across the landscape to return home. In the northern area of Jabaliya, hundreds streamed down a sandy path, heading to an apocalyptic landscape piled with rubble and destroyed buildings.
Under the first phase of the deal reached between Israel and Hamas, which is to last 42 days, the militant group has agreed to release 33 hostages including children, women (including women soldiers) and men aged over 50, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
In the second phase of the ceasefire deal, the remaining living hostages are due to be sent back and a corresponding ratio of Palestinian prisoners will be freed, and Israel will completely withdraw from the territory. The specifics are subject to further negotiations, which are due to start 16 days into the first phase.
The third phase will address the exchange of bodies of deceased hostages and Hamas members, and a reconstruction plan for Gaza will be launched. Arrangements for future governance of the strip remain hazy.
About 100 of the Palestinian prisoners slated for release are serving life sentences for violent attacks on Israelis; others were jailed for lesser offences, including social media posts, or held in administrative detention, which allows for the pre-emptive arrest of individuals based on undisclosed evidence. – Guardian, Reuters, AFP